Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament

"Motor City Madness" redirects here. For the album, see Motor City Madness: The Ultimate Funkadelic Westbound Compilation.

Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament
Sport	College basketball
Conference	Horizon League
Number of teams	12
Format	Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium	Indiana Farmers Coliseum
Current location	Indianapolis, Indiana
Played	1980–present
Last contest	2022
Current champion	Wright State Raiders
Most championships	Butler Bulldogs (7)
TV partner(s)	ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU

The Horizon League Men's Basketball Conference Tournament is held annually at the end of the men's college basketball regular season. The tournament has been played each year since 1980. The winner of the tournament is designated the Horizon League Tournament Champion and receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The finals of the tournament are typically among the first held before the field for the NCAA tournament is announced.

History and tournament format

Through 2002, the entire tournament was hosted at a single venue. From 2003 through 2015, all first-round matches were played at the home court of the higher-seeded team involved. Hosting rights for the quarterfinals and semifinals were awarded to the winner of the regular season championship. The championship game was played at the home arena of the higher remaining seed. This format rewarded the regular-season champion and runner-up with a double-bye into the semifinals. The regular-season champion received the added benefit of home-court advantage in the semifinals, plus a home-court final if it won its semifinal.

Beginning in 2009, the Horizon League secured an entitlement sponsorship of its men's and women's basketball tournaments with Speedway SuperAmerica, a major gas and convenience store chain throughout the midwest United States, officially changing the name of the tournaments to "The Speedway Horizon League Men's/Women's Basketball Championship".

From 2016 to 2019, the Horizon League tournament was held in Detroit under a five-year deal, beginning at Joe Lewis Arena, adding the women's tournament in 2017 (with both events marketed under the title Motor City Madness), and moving to the new Little Caesars Arena beginning in 2018. ^[1] As part of a contract carried over from Joe Louis Arena, Little Caesars Arena hosted the Horizon League's men's and women's basketball tournaments until 2019, under the blanket title Motor City Madness. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

However, the contract with Detroit was ended a year early; ^[5] the league reopened bidding for the men's and women's tournaments in 2018, with the new contract taking effect with the 2019–20 season. ^[6] On January 25, 2019, the conference announced that Indianapolis would host the men's and women's semifinals and final from 2020 to 2022, with Indiana Farmers Coliseum as the venue. ^[7]

Horizon League Tournament Championship Game records

Team	Championships	Years	Runners up	Years	Record
Butler	7	1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2011	6	1992, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009	7–6 (.538)
Xavier	6	1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991	4	1981, 1984, 1990, 1993	6–4 (.600)
Milwaukee	4	2003, 2005, 2006, 2014	3	2004, 2011, 2017	4–3 (.571)
Wright State	3	2007, 2018, 2022	6	1995, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019	3–6 (.333)
Detroit	3	1994, 1999, 2012	5	1988, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2005	3–5 (.375)
Evansville	3	1982, 1992, 1993	2	1989, 1994	3–2 (.600)
Northern Kentucky	3	2017, 2019, 2020	1	2022	3–1 (.750)
Cleveland State	2	2009, 2021	2	2008, 2018	2–2 (.500)
Chicago	2	2002, 2004	2	1997, 2020	2–2 (.500)
Green Bay	2	1995, 2016	2	1998, 2015	2–2 (.500)
Oral Roberts	2	1980, 1984	1	1985	2–1 (.667)
Valparaiso	2	2013, 2015	1	2012	2–1 (.667)
Loyola	1	1985	4	1980, 1982, 1983, 2002	1–4 (.200)
Dayton	1	1990	0	–	1–0 (1.000)
Northern Illinois	1	1996	0	–	1–0 (1.000)
Oklahoma City	1	1981	0	–	1–0 (1.000)
Saint Louis	0	–	3	1986, 1987, 1991	0–3 (.000)
Oakland	0	–	1	2021	0–1 (.000)
Duquesne	0	–	0	–	0–0 (–)
IUPUI	0	–	0	–	0–0 (–)
La Salle	0	–	0	–	0–0 (–)
Marquette	0	–	0	–	0–0 (–)
Purdue Fort Wayne	0	–	0	–	0–0 (–)
Robert Morris	0	–	0	–	0–0 (–)
Youngstown State	0	–	0	–	0–0 (–)

Notes

• Current conference members in bold.

Horizon League Tournament all-time standings

Current members

Through 2020 tournament finals

School	Record	Winning pct	Championships
Detroit	31–35	.470	3
Wright State	25–23	.521	3
Green Bay	24–23	.511	2
UIC	23–23	.500	2
Milwaukee	21–18	.538	4
Cleveland State	15–22	.405	2
Northern Kentucky	8–2	.800	3
Youngstown State	6–19	.240	0
Oakland	4–7	.364	0
IUPUI	0–3	.000	0
Purdue Fort Wayne	0–0	–	0
Robert Morris	0–0	–	0

Former members

School	Record	Winning pct	Championships
Butler	30–25	.545	7
Loyola	25–32	.439	1
Xavier	24–10	.706	6
Evansville	15–12	.556	3
Valparaiso	8–6	.571	2
Oral Roberts	7–6	.538	2
Saint Louis	7–8	.467	0
Northern Illinois	5–2	.714	1
Dayton	5–4	.556	1
Oklahoma City	5–4	.556	1
Duquesne	1–1	.500	0
Marquette	0–2	.000	0
La Salle	0–3	.000	0

Horizon League Tournament results

Year	Champion	Seed	Score	Runner-up	Seed	Tournament MVP	Site
1980	Oral Roberts	2	103–93	Loyola	1	Calvin Garrett , Oral Roberts	Roberts Municipal Stadium – Evansville, IN
1981	Oklahoma City	2	82–76	Xavier	1	Anthony Hicks, Xavier	Opening round: campus locations Semifinals: Frederickson Fieldhouse – Oklahoma City, OK Championship: Riverfront Coliseum – Cincinnati, OH
1982	Evansville	1	81–72	Loyola	3	Brad Leaf , Evansville	Mabee Center – Tulsa, OK
1983	Xavier	2	82–76	Loyola	1	Alfredrick Hughes , Loyola	Roberts Municipal Stadium – Evansville, IN
1984	Oral Roberts	1	82–76	Xavier	3	Sam Potter, Oral Roberts	UIC Pavilion – Chicago, IL
1985	Loyola	1	89–83	Oral Roberts	3	Alfredrick Hughes , Loyola	Mabee Center – Tulsa, OK
1986	Xavier	1	74–66	Saint Louis	2	Byron Larkin , Xavier	Market Square Arena – Indianapolis, IN
1987	Xavier	3	81–69	Saint Louis	4
1988	Xavier	1	122–96	Detroit	6
1989	Xavier	3	85–78	Evansville	1	Tyrone Hill , Xavier	University of Dayton Arena – Dayton, OH
1990	Dayton	2	98–89	Xavier	1	Negele Knight , Dayton
1991	Xavier	1	81–68	Saint Louis	3	Jamie Gladden, Xavier
1992	Evansville	2	95–76	Butler	3	Parrish Casebier , Evansville	Riverfront Coliseum – Cincinnati, OH
1993	Evansville	2	80–69	Xavier	1		Market Square Arena – Indianapolis, IN
1994	Detroit	4	72–63	Evansville	2	Andy Elkins, Evansville	Hinkle Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN
1995	Green Bay	3	73–59	Wright State	8	Jeff Nordgaard , Green Bay	Nutter Center – Dayton, OH
1996	Northern Illinois	3	84–63	Detroit	5	Chris Coleman, Northern Illinois
1997	Butler	1	69–68	UIC	3	Kelsey Wilson, Butler
1998	Butler	3	70–51	Green Bay	4	Jon Neuhouser , Butler	Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena – Green Bay, WI
1999	Detroit	1	72–65	Butler	2	Rashad Phillips , Detroit	UIC Pavilion – Chicago, IL
2000	Butler	1	62–43	Detroit	3	Mike Marshall, Butler
2001	Butler	1	53–38	Detroit	2	LaVall Jordan , Butler	Nutter Center – Dayton, OH
2002	UIC	6	76–75 (OT)	Loyola	5	Cedrick Banks , UIC	CSU Convocation Center – Cleveland, OH
2003	Milwaukee	2	69–52	Butler	1	Clay Tucker , Milwaukee	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Championship: U.S. Cellular Arena – Milwaukee, WI
2004	UIC	2	65–62	Milwaukee	1	Armond Williams, UIC	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals: Hinkle Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN Championship: U.S. Cellular Arena – Milwaukee, WI
2005	Milwaukee	1	59–58	Detroit	3	Joah Tucker , Milwaukee	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Championship: U.S. Cellular Arena – Milwaukee, WI
2006	Milwaukee	1	87–71	Butler	2	Adrian Tigert, Milwaukee
2007	Wright State	1	60–55	Butler	2	DaShaun Wood , Wright State	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Championship: Nutter Center – Dayton, OH
2008	Butler	1	70–55	Cleveland State	2	Mike Green , Butler	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Championship: Hinkle Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN
2009	Cleveland State	3	57–54	Butler	1	Cedric Jackson , Cleveland State
2010	Butler	1	70–45	Wright State	2	Matt Howard , Butler
2011	Butler	2	59–44	Milwaukee	1		Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Championship: U.S. Cellular Arena – Milwaukee, WI
2012	Detroit	3	70–50	Valparaiso	1	Ray McCallum, Jr. , Detroit	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Championship: Athletics–Recreation Center – Valparaiso, IN
2013	Valparaiso	1	62–54	Wright State	3	Erik Buggs, Valparaiso
2014	Milwaukee	5	69–63	Wright State	3	Jordan Aaron, Milwaukee	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals: Resch Center – Green Bay, WI Championship: Nutter Center – Dayton, OH
2015	Valparaiso	1	54–44	Green Bay	2	Alec Peters , Valparaiso	Opening round: campus locations Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Championship: Athletics–Recreation Center – Valparaiso, IN
2016	Green Bay	4	78–69	Wright State	3	Jordan Fouse, Green Bay	Joe Louis Arena – Detroit, MI
2017	Northern Kentucky	4	59–53	Milwaukee	10	Lavone Holland II, Northern Kentucky
2018	Wright State	2	74–57	Cleveland State	8	Grant Benzinger, Wright State	Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
2019	Northern Kentucky	2	77–66	Wright State	1	Drew McDonald , Northern Kentucky	Opening round: campus locations Semifinals, Championship: Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
2020	Northern Kentucky	2	71–62	UIC	4	Jalen Tate , Northern Kentucky	Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, IN
2021	Cleveland State	1	80–69	Oakland	3	Torrey Patton , Cleveland State
2022	Wright State	4	72–71	Northern Kentucky	3	Grant Basile, Wright State

Post-season success

Horizon League members past and present have made several Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four appearances. Charter member Loyola also won the 1963 NCAA Tournament.

Championships and post-season appearances

Season	Season champion (league record)	NCAA bids (seed), advancement	NIT bids (seed), advancement	CBI bids (seed), advancement	CIT bids (seed), advancement
1980	Loyola (5–0)	-	Loyola	Tournament not held	Tournament not held
1981	Xavier (8–3)	-	-
1982	Evansville (10–2)	Evansville (10)	Oral Roberts
1983	Loyola (12–2)	Xavier (12)	-
1984	Oral Roberts (11–3)	Oral Roberts (11)	Xavier, Quarterfinals
1985	Loyola (13–1)	Loyola (4), Sweet 16	Butler
1986	Xavier (10–2)	Xavier (12)	-
1987	Evansville (8–4) Loyola (8-4)	Xavier (13), 2nd rnd	St. Louis, 2nd rnd
1988	Xavier (9–1)	Xavier (11)	Evansville
1989	Evansville (10–2)	Evansville (11), 2nd rnd Xavier (14)	St. Louis, Championship game
1990	Xavier (12–2)	Xavier (6), Sweet 16 Dayton (12), 2nd rnd	St. Louis, Championship game Marquette
1991	Xavier (11–3)	Xavier (14), 2nd rnd	Butler
1992	Evansville (8–2)	Evansville (8)	Butler
1993	Evansville (12–2) Xavier (12–2)	Xavier (9), 2nd rnd Evansville (14)	-
1994	Xavier (8–2)	-	Xavier, Quarterfinals Evansville
1995	Xavier (14–0)	Green Bay (11) Xavier (14)	-
1996	Green Bay (16–0)	Green Bay (8) Northern Illinois (14)	-
1997	Butler (12–4)	Butler (14)	-
1998	Detroit (12–2) UIC (12–2)	UIC (9) Detroit (10), 2nd rnd Butler (13)	-
1999	Detroit (12–2)	Detroit (12), 2nd rnd	Butler, Quarterfinals
2000	Butler (12–2)	Butler (12)	-
2001	Butler (11–3)	Butler (10), 2nd rnd	Detroit, Semifinals
2002	Butler (12–4)	UIC (15)	Butler, 2nd rnd Detroit
2003	Butler (14–2)	Butler (12), Sweet 16 Milwaukee (12)	UIC
2004	Milwaukee (13–3)	UIC (13)	Milwaukee
2005	Milwaukee (14–2)	Milwaukee (12), Sweet 16	-
2006	Milwaukee (12–4)	Milwaukee (11), 2nd rnd	Butler (8)
2007	Butler (13–3) Wright State (13–3)	Butler (5), Sweet 16 Wright State (14)	-
2008	Butler (16–2)	Butler (7), 2nd rnd	Cleveland State (6)	Valparaiso (4), 2nd rnd
2009	Butler (15–3)	Butler (9) Cleveland State (13), 2nd rnd	-	Green Bay (2)	-
2010	Butler (18–0)	Butler (5), Nat'l Runner-Up	-	Green Bay (3), 2nd rnd	-
2011	Butler (13–5) Cleveland State (13–5) Milwaukee (13–5)	Butler (8), Nat'l Runner-Up	Cleveland State (2), 2nd rnd Milwaukee (5)	-	Valparaiso
2012	Valparaiso (14–4)	Detroit (15; 61 overall)	Cleveland State (6) Valparaiso (7)	Butler, 3rd rnd (semi-final) Milwaukee	-
2013	Valparaiso (13–3)	Valparaiso (14; 56 overall)	Detroit (6)	Wright State, 3rd rnd (semi-final)	Youngstown State, 2nd rnd UIC, 2nd rnd Green Bay
2014	Green Bay (14–2)	Milwaukee (15; 60 overall)	Green Bay (4)	-	Valparaiso Wright State, 2nd rnd Cleveland State
2015	Valparaiso (13–3)	Valparaiso (13; 51 overall)	Green Bay (5)	-	Cleveland State 2nd rnd Oakland
2016	Valparaiso (16–2)	Green Bay (14; 55 overall)	Valparaiso (1), Championship game	-	-
2017	Oakland (14–4) Valparaiso (14–4)	Northern Kentucky (15; 59 overall)	Oakland (7), 2nd rnd Valparaiso (7)	Green Bay UIC	-
2018	Northern Kentucky (15–3)	Wright State (13; 57 overall)	Northern Kentucky (7)	-	UIC Championship Game
2019	Wright State (13–5) Northern Kentucky (13–5)	Northern Kentucky (14; 58 overall)	Wright State (7)	-	Green Bay Championship Game
2020	-	-	-	-	-
2021	Cleveland State (16–4) Wright State (16–4)	Cleveland State (15; 60 overall)

Broadcasters

Television

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
2022	ESPN	Bob Wischusen	Mark Adams
2021		Jason Benetti	Chris Spatola
2020			Dan Dakich
2019		Rich Hollenberg	Fran Fraschilla
2018
2017		Bob Wischusen
2016		Mike Tirico	Dan Dakich
2015		Bob Wischusen	Jim Calhoun
2014			Malcolm Huckaby
2013 [8]			Stephen Bardo
2012 [9]		Mark Jones
2011 [10]		Bob Wischusen
2010 [11]		Jon Sciambi	LaPhonso Ellis
2009 [12]		Ron Franklin	Fran Fraschilla
2008 [13]		Terry Gannon	Stephen Bardo
2007 [14]
2006 [15]		Dave Barnett	Tim McCormick and Jason Williams
2005 [16]		Dave Strader	Stephen Bardo
2004 [17]		Dave Revsine	Bob Valvano
2003 [18]

Radio

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
2013	Westwood One	Wayne Larrivee	Will Perdue
2012 [19]		Dave Ryan	Pete Gillen
2011 [20]		Wayne Larrivee
2010 [21]
2009 [22]		Mark Champion

See also

• List of Horizon League champions

Notes

1. "Moving Horizon League tourney to Detroit is all about branding". The Detroit News. MediaNews Group. May 7, 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
2. Paul, Tony (January 25, 2019). "Motor City 'Sadness': Horizon League pulls plug on hoops tourneys in Detroit". The Detroit News. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
3. Paul, Tony (May 7, 2015). "Moving Horizon League tourney to Detroit is all about branding". The Detroit News. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
4. Potter, Bill (July 5, 2016). "Horizon League Announces 2017 Little Caesars Motor City Madness Updates". Horizon League. Archived from the original on January 20, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
5. Paul, Tony (March 13, 2019). "'Beyond compare': Horizon League commish raves about four-year run in Detroit". The Detroit News. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
6. "Horizon League Announces Bid Process for #HLMBB and #HLWBB Tournament" (Press release). Horizon League. October 12, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
7. "Horizon League Announces Indianapolis as Future Site for #HLMBB and #HLWBB Championships" (Press release). Horizon League. January 25, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
8. "Championship Week Presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods Schedule - ESPN Press Room U.S." 4 March 2013.
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
10. http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/02/28/championship-week-presented-by-dick%e2%80%99s-sporting-goods-schedule/?s-sporting-goods-schedule/
11. "Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone". Espnmediazone3.com. 2010-03-02. Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
12. http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_releases/2009_02_feb/20090226_ChampionshipWeekBeginsMarch5.htm Archived March 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
13. "Vikings Face Butler In Horizon League Title Game - CLEVELAND STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE". Csuvikings.cstv.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
14. http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/MYSA03022007_whattowatch_11f571e4_html9032.html Archived February 7, 2009, at archive.today
15. "Milwaukee Athletics - Men's Basketball". Uwmpanthers.cstv.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
16. "Milwaukee Athletics - Men's Basketball". Uwmpanthers.cstv.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
17. "Milwaukee Athletics - Men's Basketball". Uwmpanthers.cstv.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
18. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/wiml/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/champnotes.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
20. "We've Moved!".
21. http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1267859867;start=all ^{[ dead link ]}
22. http://images.westwoodone.com/images/pdf/pressreleases/2009NCAAChampionshipWeek.pdf ^{[ permanent dead link ]}